Wrap yarn controlled stop motion mechanism for knitting machines



June 7, 1949. c. w. cox

WRAP YARN CONTROLLED STOP-MOTION MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 11, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 (not W. Cox,

INVENTOR.-

Arrow/U June 7, 1949.

Filed Aug. 11, 1947 C. W. COX WRAP YARN CONTROLLED STOP-MOTION MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A T TURNL'Y.

Patented June 7, 1949 UNITED -ST. \'I'E"S PATENT OFFICE WRAP YARN. CGN-TROLLED STOP- MOTION MECHANISM. FOR KNITTING MACHINES Clyde'William Cox; High Point, N. 0., assignor, by decree of distribution, to Ethel W. Cox

Application August 11, 1947, Serial No. 767,979

Claims. 1

This invention relates to a stop motion mechanism for a knittin machine and more especially to a knitting machine of the Scott & .Williams ES or P & W knitting maching having a wrap stripe mechanism associated therewith, such as shown in patents numbered 1,853,020 or 1,906,204.

It is an object of this invention to provide special mechanism for holding a cone of wrap yarn with said cone holding mechanism having pivoted therein centrifugally responsive means which, when the wrap yarn is about exhausted from the come onto which it is wound, the centrifugally operated means will, due to the rotation of the wrap yarn carrying means, move outwardly and engage certain projections to operate certain mechanisms to stop the machine.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide in a knitting machine having wrap stripe mechanism a slotted wrap yarn cone andcone holders provided with pivoted means and said cone holders being adapted toreceive a cone which is longitudinally slotted on one side'and whereby the pivoted means will move outwardly under centrifugal force when the wrap yarn on the cone is about exhausted to therefore operate stop motion mechanism for stoppingthe'machine before a wrap yarn supply on a'wrap yarn cone is exhausted.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is an elevation with portions broken away of the upper part of a Wrap stripe section of a circular knitting machine equipped with my invention;

Figure 2 is an isometric view of a portion of the stop motion actuating mechanism;

Figure 3 is an elevation of one of the cop or tube holders removed from its supporting table;

Figure 4 is a sectional plan view along the line 4-4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a view mostly in vertical section and showing one of the cop holders with the cop thereon;

Figure 6 is an elevation looking'from the righthand side toward the left in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a cut away isometric view of the holders and a portion of a yarn tube thereon;

Figure 8 is a sectional plan view taken along the line 8-- 8 in Figure 1.

Referring more specifically to the drawings'the numeral I0 indicates a bracket rising upwardly from the body a portion of a knitting machine of the class described, and in this bracket isrdtatably mounted a housin II having on the lower end thereof a plurality of radially" movable wrap "yarn fingers l2 which are adapted to' be'move'd the peripherythereof, only two of which" are shown in the drawings. Each of the bracketsl fi has pivotally mounted therein a yarn tension take-up lever I'l, having a; hook in its ireeend over which the yarn W is adapted tobe" passed.

The outer ends of the tension levers I? have hooked portions adapted to hook into an upwardly projecting member l9- secured to a tension disk 20 slidably mounted on a post 24 and normally urged downwardly by a spring 22' surrounding saidpost and the tension can headjusted by a thumb nut 23.

There is a fixed tension disk 2 I against which the tension disk 20 is pressed by the spring 22. There is alsopivoted in each bracketv I 6 a member having an outwardly and upwardly" projecting portion 25 and an inwardly and downwardlyprojecting hooked portion or member 26'. A cone'of yarn is indicated at 30, and thewrap yarn wound therearound is indicated by the referencecharacter W. This wrap yarn passes upwardly between the two tension disks 20 and.- 2 i andthrouglr a suitable opening in a bracket I6 andthroughthe hook on the lower end of member 26 and'then beneath a ring 32 secured on suitable uprisin'g posts 33 rising from the table I-5'. Then the'wrap yarn W passes through the hook on lever ITand extends downwardly through suitable tubes" '21, in the housing I I to the wrap fingers l2, asisiully disclosed in said above mentioned p'atentsL' The yarn tension lever is normally urged" upwardly against the tension of the yarn bymeans of a tension spring 35 having'its upper endan'chored to spring perch 36 secured on the brackets'lfit The means for supporting the cones .of yarn W comprises a base portion 40 which is suitably secured to the table M andhaving'a washer memb'er ll and a threaded portion 42 is'thread'ed' into the portion 40 and into the table l4,,thi"s threaded portion having an upwardly rising'slottedportion,

member or holder 44 having a cross member 45 secured to its upper end and having downwardly projecting leaf spring members 46 and 41 secured thereto, said parts being collectively referred to as a cone holder. 7

The cone 3!! is adapted to be slipped down over the leaf spring members 46 and 41 to securely hold the cone of yarn in position.

The member 44 is slotted as at 50 and has pivotally mounted therein as at 5| a member 52 which has its longer upper end projecting upwardly and loosely fitting in the slot 50. The cone 3% is also slotted as at 54 and when cone 3!] is placed over the member 44' and over the leaf spring members 46 and 41, the slot 54 is-caused to coincide with the slot 50, but since the cone 30 has wrap yarn wound therearound, then centrifugal force will not allow the member 52 to fall downwardly and outwardly to position shown in Figure 3, but when the yarn has become exhausted from the lower end of the cone which occurs before a certain central portion thereof has be come completely exhausted, then this allows this member 52 to swing to the position shown in Figure 3 which will stop the machine by stop motion mechanism to be presently described.

Secured on the bracket I is a support 60 on which is pivotally mounted as at 6| a lever 62 having acam 63 on one end thereof. Rising upwardly from the bracket I0 is a post 64 having a fitting 65 thereon to which is pivotally mounted as at 56 a lever 61 which is forked at its lower end and engages a restricted portion 68 on the outer end of lever 62. The upper end of lever 61 engages a lever 10 pivoted as at H on bracket 65 and to the end nearest the observer in Figures 1 and 2 there is secured by a screen 13 a wire 24 which is usually encased by a coiled spring 15 and clamped as at 16 in a member 11 but still permitting relative movement of the wire 14 within the coiled spring 15. This lever is normally biased by a spring 80 fastened as at 16 and to screw 13 to move away from the observer in Figure 2 or to the right in Figure 1. Thus when the member 52 engages the cam 63 of lever 82 it will move the lever 62 in a counter-clockwise manner in Figure 2 which will move lever 10 in a clockwise manner in Figure 2 and move the wire '14 toward the observer in Figure 2 or to the left in Figure 1 and thus operate a conventional stop the stroke is shortened successively at the top and bottom to give a filling wind substantially as shown in the left-hand portion of Figure 1. The windin usually begins at the top and progresses downwardly to the bottom and back toward the top and up and down in this manner until the winding is completed. This will cause the first layer of yarn to occupy substantially the position shown in Figure and thus when all layers of the yarn on the cone 30 have been used up and the last layer begins unwinding from the bottom it will thus expose the top portion of the slot 54 and will allow the pivoted member 52 to move outwardly to the position shown in Figure 1 as a result of centrifugal force, due to the rotation of the housing H, and table I4 on which the yarn holders 44 are mounted. Thus the machine will be stopped slightly before all of the wrap yarn is used on a cone and thus it will be insured that the wrap yarn will not travel downwardly through the housing H or out through the wrap yarn feeding fingers l2, but sufficient end will be left below the tension disk l2 to allow a new cone filled with yarn to be inserted and its end tied to the outgoing end of the preceding exhausted supply of wrap yarn.

It is thus seen that I have provided a stop motion mechanism for wrap stripe knitting machines which upon near exhaustion of the wrap yarn from a cone will cause stoppage of the knitting machine and thus will prevent defective hosiery from being produced in that the machine will be stopped before the wrap yarn will be allowed to pass downwardly out of the wrap stripe fingers l2 but will stop it before it passes through the tension means. However, in the event of a parting of the wrap strand W as it leaves the cone, then, of course, it will allow the upwardly and outwardly projecting portion 25 to move downwardly to where it will engage a cam portion 85 of lever 10 and thus stop the machine. When the wrap yarn W parts and allows the portion 25 to swing by centrifugal force down to horizontal position, its free end will engage a cam surface 85 on lever 10 which will push the lever TD in a clockwise manner and stop the machine in the same manner as if lever 62 had been swung in a counter-clockwise manner by engagement with the pivoted member 52.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a knitting machine having a revolving wrap stripe mechanism disposed thereabove and comprising a table supported by the revolving wrap stripe mechanism, the table having mounted on the upper side thereof a plurality of vertically disposed holders for holding yarn cones filled with wrap yarn, each of the holders being slotted vertically and having a member pivoted in the slot near its lower end, each of the holders having outwardly biased resilient means for engaging the interior of the lower end of the cone, the yarn cone fitting over a holder having a slot in one side thereof coinciding with the slot in the holder, the yarn wound on the cone serving to hold the pivoted member in the holder in elevated position and preventing its falling out through the slot in the tube due to centrifugal force, stop motion actuating mechanism disposed adjacent the periphery of the table for engagement with the pivoted member when it moves under centrifugal force outwardly through the slot in the yarn tube to approximately horizontal position to actuate the stop motion actuating mechanism to stop the machine.

2. In a knitting machine having wrap stripe means for holding a plurality of cones of wrap stripe yarn thereon, the means for holding the cones being adapted to be revolved in timed relation to the cylinder of the knitting machine, said knitting machine having a stop motion actuating mechanism, a plurality of tube holders mounted on the revolving mechanism for holding tubes of wrap yarn, each of the holders having outwardly biased resilient means for engaging the interior of the lower end of the cone, and each holder having a vertically disposed slot therein with a member pivoted near its lower end in said slot, the holder being adapted to receive thereover the lower end of a tube having wrap yarn wound thereon, the lower end of the tube being slotted to coincide with the slot in the holder, the wrap yarn on the tube preventin outward movement of the member pivoted in the holder through the slot in the tube under centrifugal force until the yarn becomes exhausted at the point on the tube where the tube is slotted, and stop motion actuating mechanism adapted to be engaged by the pivoted member when moved outwardly through the slot in the tube by centrifugal force to engage the stop motion actuating mechanism to stop the machine.

3. In a knitting machine having wrap stripe means for holding a plurality of cones of wrap stripe yarn thereon, the means for holdin the cones being adapted to be revolved in timed relation to the cylinder of the knitting machine, said knitting machine having a stop motion actuating mechanism, a plurality of tube holders mounted on the revolving mechanism for holding tubes of wrap yarn, each of the holders having outwardly biased resilient means for engaging the interior of the lower end of the cone, and each holder having a vertically disposed slot therein with a member pivoted near its lower end in said slot, the holder being adapted to receive thereover the lower end of a tube having wrap yarn wound thereon, the lower end of the tube being slotted to coincide with the slot in the holder, the wrap yarn on the tube preventing outward movement of the member pivoted in the holder through the slot in the tube under centrifugal force until the yarn becomes exhausted at the point on the tube where the tube is slotted, and stop motion actuating mechanism adapted to be engaged by the pivoted member when moved outwardly through the slot in the tube by centrifugal force to engage the stop motion actuating mechanism to stop the machine, a pivoted member through which the wrap yarn passes after passing off of the cone on its way to the needles of the knitting machine and adapted to be held in elevated position by normal tension by the wrap yarn and means also connected to the stop motion actuating mechanism adapted to be engaged by the upper pivoted member which is normally held in elevated position by normal tension in the yarn upon a parting or lessening of tension in the yarn strand to cause actuation of the stop motion actuating mechanism to stop the machine.

4. In a circular knitting machine having a revolving wrap stripe feeding means disposed thereabove and having holders for holding a plurality of cones of wrap yarn, each of the holders having a vertically disposed slot therein, a centrifugally responsive member disposed in the slot in the holder and pivoted near its lower end to the holder, each of the holders having outwardly biased resilient means for engaging the interior of the lower end of the cone, each of the cones on which the wrap yarn is wound having a longitudinally extending slot therein, stop motion aetuating mechanism located adjacent to the revolving wrap stripe mechanism, the wrap yarn on the cone serving to hold the member pivoted in the holder from passing outwardly through the slot in the cone to engage the stop motion actuating mechanism, but exhaustion of yarn from the tube allowing the pivoted member to move by centrifugal force outwardly through the slot in the yarn cone to engage the stop motion actuating mechanism to stop the machine.

5. In a knitting machine having a stop motion actuating mechanism and also having means for holding a cone of wrap yarn and revolving the same so that it can be fed to the needles of the knittin machine, the cone of wrap yarn having a slot therein, a holder over which the lower end of the tube of yarn is adapted to be inserted for holding it in feeding position, each of the holders having a vertically disposed slot therein, a centrifugally responsive member disposed in the slot in the holder and pivoted near its lower end to the holder, each of the holders having outwardly biased resilient means for engaging the interior of the lower end of the cone, a member pivoted at its lower end in the holder adapted to be moved outwardly through the slot in the cone of yarn by centrifugal force upon revolving of the wrap yarn attachment, and stop motion means engageable by the pivoted member in the holder, when it moves outwardly through the slot in the cone to engage the stop motion actuating mechanism to stop the machine before the yarn is entirely exhausted from the cone on which it is wound.

CLYDE WILLIAM COX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 43,294 Dalton June 28, 1864 2,430,633 Fogleman et a1. Nov. 11, 1947 

